The State of AI Search Visibility 2026
We ran 200 brands across 48 queries on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Here's who AI recommends — and who's invisible.
Executive Summary
Five numbers that reframe how brands should think about AI search.
of brands don't appear in any AI answer
of AI visibility consumed by top 3 brands per category
visibility drop on problem queries vs. category queries
of all citations come from just 20 domains
of all citations originate from Reddit
How we ran this study
A transparent breakdown of our approach, so you can evaluate the findings with full context.
Segments studied
Examples: HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion
Examples: Shopify, Allbirds, Gymshark
Examples: Stripe, Revolut, Robinhood
Examples: Hims & Hers, Calm, Headspace
Query types
"What is the best [category] tool?"
Brand awareness queries. Highest volume.
"[Brand A] vs [Brand B]"
Consideration queries. High commercial intent.
"How do I solve [specific problem]?"
Decision queries. Highest purchase intent.
Scoring: Each brand received a Brand Visibility Score (BVS) from 0-100, calculated from mention frequency, position, sentiment, and citation quality across all queries and platforms.
The AI Visibility Floor
62% of brands don't appear in a single AI answer
Of the 200 brands we studied, almost two-thirds received zero mentions across all 48 queries and all four platforms. This isn't a tail-end problem — major brands with strong SEO and social presence are completely absent from AI answers. The rules of AI search are fundamentally different from traditional search.
Chart: Bar chart: distribution of brands by AI mention count (0, 1-5, 6-10, 11-20, 20+)
- Audit your AI visibility baseline before assuming you have any
- Run your brand across all 4 AI platforms on your top 10 queries
- Identify which query types you appear in vs. which you don't
Platform Asymmetry
ChatGPT mentions 2.3x more brands than Gemini across the same queries
The four AI platforms don't agree on which brands to recommend. ChatGPT casts the widest net, mentioning brands most frequently. Perplexity is the most citation-dense. Gemini is the most conservative, frequently refusing to recommend specific brands. Claude sits in the middle but shows the highest sentiment variance.
Chart: Grouped bar chart: average brand mentions per platform (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity)
- Don't assume your ChatGPT ranking reflects your Gemini ranking
- Prioritise Perplexity-optimised content (FAQ and listicle formats) for citation gains
- Monitor each platform independently — a single score hides massive platform divergence
The Category-Winner Effect
The #1 brand in a category captures 43% of all AI mentions in that category
AI systems amplify category leadership. When there's a recognised market leader, AI platforms disproportionately recommend them — often to the exclusion of strong #2 and #3 brands. This winner-takes-most dynamic is more extreme than in traditional search, where positions 2-5 still receive meaningful traffic.
Chart: Treemap: share of AI mentions by brand rank within category (rank 1 vs 2 vs 3 vs 4-10 vs rest)
- If you're not category leader, focus on owning a sub-category or specific use case
- Build content that positions you as the clear best for a specific audience segment
- Consider category creation — invent a category you can legitimately dominate
The Problem-Query Invisibility Crater
Brands see a 58% drop in AI visibility on problem queries vs. category queries
When people ask 'What's the best [category] tool?', brands appear. When they ask 'How do I solve [specific problem]?', the same brands vanish. Problem queries are the highest-intent queries — they represent buyers actively seeking solutions — yet almost no brands have content that triggers AI recommendations on these queries.
Chart: Grouped bar chart: avg visibility score by query type (Category, Comparison, Problem) per platform
- Map your buyers' specific problems and create dedicated content for each
- Use 'how to solve X' framing rather than 'what is X' for your deep content
- Check your visibility score specifically on problem queries — not just category queries
Source Concentration
84% of AI citations come from just 20 domains
AI platforms pull heavily from a concentrated set of trusted sources. Getting featured or cited by these 20 domains dramatically increases your chances of being mentioned in AI answers. The domains span editorial media, review platforms, and social networks — and they vary meaningfully by platform.
Chart: Horizontal bar chart: top 20 cited domains ranked by citation frequency across all platforms
- Identify which of the top 20 domains cover your category and target them for coverage
- Build relationships with publications that consistently rank in AI-cited sources
- Create assets worth citing: original research, data, or tools that these publications want to reference
The Reddit Effect
23% of all AI citations come from Reddit threads
Reddit is the single largest source of AI citations in our study, outpacing any individual editorial publication. Brands with strong Reddit presence — particularly in relevant subreddits — show markedly higher AI visibility scores. This effect is strongest on Perplexity and ChatGPT, which both use Reddit data heavily.
Chart: Donut chart: citation sources by platform type (Reddit, Editorial, Review sites, Brand-owned, Other UGC)
- Establish a genuine presence in the subreddits your customers use
- Don't spam — authentic, helpful contributions get cited; promotional posts get removed
- Monitor Reddit mentions as a leading indicator of future AI visibility shifts
Segment Winners and Losers
B2B SaaS brands are 3.2x more visible in AI than DTC/e-commerce brands
Not all industries are equal in AI visibility. B2B SaaS and fintech brands — with their rich editorial coverage, review site presence, and comparison content — massively outperform consumer goods brands. Healthcare brands are the wildcard: those with strong community presence punch above their weight.
Chart: Radar/spider chart: segment comparison across 5 metrics (visibility, sentiment, citations, platform spread, query type breadth)
- Benchmark against your segment average, not the overall average
- If you're in a low-visibility segment, focus on editorial coverage gaps first
- B2B brands: invest in third-party review sites (G2, Capterra) — AI cites them heavily
Sentiment Landmines
12% of brands appear in AI answers with predominantly negative framing
Being mentioned in AI answers isn't always good. 12% of brands in our study appear regularly but with a negative or cautionary framing — AI platforms cite controversy, complaints, or criticisms as the primary context. These brands would actually improve by reducing their AI visibility on certain queries.
Chart: Scatter plot: visibility score vs sentiment score per brand, coloured by segment
- Track not just whether you appear, but how you're described when you do
- Audit for queries where AI mentions you negatively and address the underlying content
- Proactively publish positive, factual content that gives AI platforms a balanced picture
The Zero-Mention Club
68% of the Zero-Mention Club has strong SEO — it's not a content volume problem
The brands with zero AI visibility are not obscure or poorly marketed. 68% of them have strong traditional SEO metrics — domain authority above 50, thousands of indexed pages, active content programmes. AI search is not an extension of web search. The signals AI uses to decide who to recommend are fundamentally different.
Chart: Scatter plot: domain authority vs AI visibility score, showing the disconnect between SEO and AI visibility
- Stop assuming SEO success translates to AI visibility — measure them separately
- The gap between your SEO performance and AI visibility score is your opportunity size
- Start an AI visibility programme as a distinct workstream, not an SEO extension
What the Top 10% Does Differently
Top 10% brands appear on 71% of queries; bottom 50% appear on fewer than 3%
The brands in the top 10% of AI visibility share five characteristics: they dominate at least one third-party review platform, they have original research cited by editorial publications, they have active Reddit community presence, they publish regularly in formats that AI retrieves well (FAQ, comparison, listicle), and they track and optimise their AI visibility continuously.
Chart: Checklist heatmap: how top 10% vs average vs bottom 50% brands score on the 5 key visibility drivers
- Score yourself on each of the 5 characteristics and prioritise the biggest gaps
- The fastest win: get your brand listed on 2-3 high-authority review platforms in your category
- Original research (like this report) is the single highest-ROI AI visibility investment
Segment Deep Dives
AI visibility patterns vary dramatically by industry. See how each segment performs.
B2B SaaS
60 brands studied
Key finding: Category leaders dominate; smaller tools are virtually invisible on comparison queries.
Chart: Top 5 brands in B2B SaaS by BVS with platform breakdown
Get the full report
We'll send you the complete PDF with all 200 brand scores, full segment analysis, and the methodology in detail.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
Where does your brand stand?
Check your AI visibility score in 30 seconds — free, no signup required. See exactly where you appear (or don't) across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.
Your brand is being discussed in AI right now.
Are you tracking it?
Start monitoring your AI visibility today. Free for 7 days, no credit card required.